AN AMERICAN tourist miraculously escaped with her life after her car somersaulted down a 500ft bank as she was driving across one of the steepest passes in England.

Jane Lukic, 60, suffered a cut to the head, a broken arm, bruising and a slight concussion after her car crashed down the slope after it left the Wrynose Pass in Cumbria.

It is thought the Mercedes the 60-year-old American tourist was descending on a curve when the tyre blew out - causing her to lose control of the vehicle and career down the ravine.

Two witnesses raced to her aid down the mountain pass, which features hairpin bends, falls away steeply at parts and has gradients of up to one in three at places.

Mrs Lukic, a self-employed music instructor from Mequon, a small city in Wisconsin, was travelling to Yorkshire to visit friends when her silver Mercedes left the narrow road.

The car flipped several times down the bracken-covered slope before coming to a halt on its side.

Ex-husband Chris, speaking from Wisconsin, said "it's a miracle".

He said: "It's amazing. If she had been in an old-technology car, she wouldn't be alive.

"It's a miracle that she had her seat belt on and was able to sustain this crash with only minor injuries. She's in good spirits and doing well, and happy to be alive."

The accident on the steep single-track descent of the pass into Little Langdale occurred on Friday afternoon, but Mrs Lukic was discharged from hospital just days later.

The car somersaulted down the 500ft slope [CASCADE]

The tourist escaped with relatively minor injuries [CASCADE]

Nick Owen, team leader of Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team, whose ten-strong team spent three hours at the incident, reserved praise for the two young men who comforted her while emergency services were on their way.

Fire crews from Ambleside, Coniston and Kendal were involved in cutting the roof off to allow paramedics to get to Mrs Lukic, who was on her own.

Low-lying cloud meant a North West Air Ambulance Service helicopter had to turn back and instead an RAF Sea King helicopter from Northumberland evacuated the woman to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

She was treated there over the weekend before being released on Monday, the hospital confirmed.

Rescuers at the scene [CASCADE]

RAF Sea King helicopter lifted the woman from the crash site

A lifetime of gratitude and appreciation for the hiker, to the first responders, to the RAF chopper crew, to the doctors and everyone involved in this rescue effort.

Noel Kegel

Martin Holroyd, of Cumbria Fire and Rescue, said: "It was a lucky escape. She was very fortunate.

Mrs Lukic's son, Noel Kegel, added: "A lifetime of gratitude and appreciation for the hiker, to the first responders, to the RAF chopper crew, to the doctors and everyone involved in this rescue effort.

"Mercedes earns a mention as well for designing a vehicle that can sustain so much damage and protect its precious cargo."